


A True Trio

by JustAndrea



Series: Mikey, Michika and Hueso Jr Stories [3]
Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Bad Puns, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, polyamorous relationship (eventually)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:49:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25173409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAndrea/pseuds/JustAndrea
Summary: Eight drabbles. Eight moments. Three best friends.(Featuring Mikey, Michika and Hueso Jr.)((EDIT: New bonus chapter added on 1/9/21))((EDIT 2: TWO new bonus chapters added on 2/7/21))
Relationships: Michelangelo (TMNT)/Original Character(s)
Series: Mikey, Michika and Hueso Jr Stories [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823638
Comments: 7
Kudos: 18





	1. Inspiration

**Author's Note:**

> Been wanting to write more for these three for forEVER but I didn't want to do another long story, so I figured drabbles were the way to go. Hope you all enjoy!

“You sure this water’s clean?” Michi asked. She stuck her hand in the shallow water, waving it around. It looked like the same shade of blue as the clean water in the Turtles' atrium, and it felt pretty clean too, but- “If I have to refill, I don’t wanna be stuck with sewer water. That stuff makes me feel like I just took a bath in a dumpster.”

“Thankfully, there are more clean-running sewer pipes in this section of the city than ones that transport waste,” Donnie told her, tapping his wrist-tablet a couple times, “As long as we  _ stick to the path _ -” he sent a pointed look at Raph, who was suddenly very interested in the ceiling, hoping to look innocent enough- “We should be completely fine and fairly clean. Though, note we are still in the sewers so we probably should still try to stay out of the water as much as possible-”

“Yeahyeahyeah,” Leo said, waving his twin off, “Stay in our tubes, got it, But we’re not going to get ANY tubing time if Mikey doesn’t get his shell down here!”

“He’ll be here,” Raph said, giving a small grunt as he tossed his tire-tube into the water, “What time did he say he’d get done with his shift again?”

“I think like, 5-ish? But it’s like-” Leon checked his phone, “Almost 5:30 already so what-?”

“Sorry! Sorry,” they heard a voice yell. Turning their attention down the pipe, they could see Mikey running towards them, wearing his favorite beachwear with a tube hanging off his arm.

“Finally!” Leo said, acting exasperated. Mikey just rolled his eyes - and he thought Donnie was the dramatic one. “You good?”

“Yeah,” Mikey nodded, “Hueso just had me do a couple last minute things, and then I had to drop off my uniform and grab my-” Glancing over, he blinked. “My uh, my tube so… yeah.”

“Hm?” Leo tilted his head a bit, curious at his brother’s sudden shift. Then he followed Mikey’s gaze, and it all clicked.

While Wil wasn’t interested in tubing (for obvious reasons), she had helped Michi out with getting ready for it. Not that the kappa would have minded tubing in her normal outfit, but even she could admit that wet denim and soaked shorts were a bit of a pain. Totally fine to swim in, but preeeetty sucky to walk around in.

So, the catgirl had bought her a brand new swimsuit - her treat, as she had insisted. It was a pale blue one-piece, the color matching well with her teal skin. There were ruffles on the straps, as well as a short frilly skirt. Michi was also missing her trademark sunhat and bows. Using her claws (and a bit of mystic luck), Wil had managed to help comb out Michi’s hair as well, allowing her dark, naturally stringy and wavy locks to flow down over her shell (though her yellow ribbons were still tied onto her wrists, in case she felt like tying her pigtails back in later).

It was… a pretty significant change in how she usually looked, and Mikey couldn’t stop staring.

“...” Leon smirked widely. Honestly, it took all his willpower to not tease the box turtle. Still, it was pretty adorable. ‘Guess Mike’s growin’ up a little,’ he thought to himself.

“Michi… Can I take your photo?” Mikey asked suddenly, smiling now. 

...Okayyyy. Maybe a bit on the bold side, at least in Leo’s opinion. Michika seemed just as surprised, raising an eyebrow at him as she silently asked for an explanation. “You and your new outfit are totally giving me some inspiration!” he told her, “I’m thinking something with watercolors mixed with spray paint, lots of waves and blending! Like- like a river spirit! That’s kinda what kappas are, right?”

Michi gave a small laugh. “Maybe to you surface folk. I’m not exactly the ‘spiritual’ type, but I guess I don’t mind being an inspiration. ...Although, letting someone take pictures of you for free? Hmmmmm…”

“Hmph, I know how you roll. How about when we get back, I make you this new dish I’ve been meaning to try. Kanisu! It’s this salad made with crab and cucumber-”

“I’m in,” Michi told him, “Snap away. Just don’t take forever, okay, Mikaboo?”

“Yeah,” Raph added, “We’ve only got a couple hours before Pops wants us home.

“Don’t worry, it’ll just be a sec,” he told them, reaching into his shell. He only snapped a few photos, wanting to get shots of her and the water together, even telling her to get in her tube for a couple of them. Maybe he could make it a series of paintings, or another mural? Whatever he was going to do with the inspiration, Mikey was still grateful for it. “Okay, ready!”

“Great!” Raph grinned, “Then let’s get tubin’! Mad Dogz - and Michi - AHOY!” The snapper practically did a cannonball into his tire, pushing him down the manmade river.

Mikey followed his big bro’s lead, letting out a “Whoop!” has he jumped in. “Thanks for the help, Michi,” he told her, “And you know… You’re really pretty.”

“...Tc’ch, dork,” Michi scoffed, even if the smile on her beak was genuine. “...Bet’cha can’t beat me to the first turn!” Before Mikey could even answer her, Michi gave his tube a kick, sending him into a bit of a tailspin while she began paddling away, cackling to herself.

Once he slowed himself down, Mikey playfully glared back at her as he tried to catch up. “Oh you are SO gonna get it!”

Not wanting to get left behind, Leo and Donnie hopped into the water as well. Though, as they got settled, Leon gave his purple brother a bit of a nudge. “Hey, so… Those two sort of have a vibe, right? Like… there’s totally something there, right?”

Donnie looked at him. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“...Eh, nevermind.” Not giving it much of a second thought, Leo laid back in his tube and let the gentle waves of the sewers do the work of taking him towards his family. If there was something there, he was sure his little bro would see it eventually - Mikey was pretty intuitive in that way, even if he was still a bit of a kid at heart.


	2. Focus

Mikey stared at his phone screen. He had texted Hueso Jr. over forty five minutes ago - about half an hour after his Mystic Middle School let out for the day. He hadn’t yet received an answer yet.

Now, while he was certainly a bit of a clinger (he couldn’t help that he was the hugging type! Or that his brothers’ shells were so easy to perch on or hang off of), Mikey didn’t really consider himself clingy. If Junior had just not replied, or even if he had left him on ‘read’, Mikey wouldn’t have minded at all. The skeleton had his own life just as Mikey had his, and people weren’t always available to talk.

...But, if the blinking ellipses under Mikey’s text told him anything, it told him that Junior still wanted to talk, even if he wasn’t able to. Deciding to trust his instincts on this one, Mikey let his father know he was going out before racing out into the city, being sure to stick to the shadows while it was still light out.

Piel had answered when Mikey knocked, the ex-pirate actually looking a bit relieved to see him. “Ah, Micheal… You are here to see Hueso Jr., yes?”

“Yeah,” Mikey nodded, “Is he okay?”

“He’s, ah…” Piel rubbed the back of his neck. (Mikey tried not to notice how much his arm jiggled.) “He had a bit of a rough day at school so, I do not think he would be up for playing-”

“I know,” Mikey told him, “I figured that was the case. But, could I still go see him? Please? I promise I’ll leave if he wants me to.”

“...” While he was a bit reluctant, Piel knew how close the two boys were. So, he nodded and opened the door enough for Mikey to come inside. The orange turtle barely gave him a thank you before racing upstairs, his mask tails bouncing with each step.

Junior was sitting on the floor, his hood up over his head and hat and his knees pulled up to his ribcage. He still had his phone in his hands, but his thumbs were still. “Hey,” Mikey quietly greeted, giving his friend a sympathetic smile. Junior remained silent, not even looking over. So, Mikey sat down next to him.

“Everything okay?” Junior didn’t answer right away… but after several seconds, he shook his head. “Yeah, didn’t think so… You want a hug?” Another shake, this one harder. “Okay. Do you want me to stay?” A pause, and then a nod. “Okay.”

So, Mikey sat there, shoulder to shoulder with the skeleton as he concentrated on his breathing. Even out of the corner of his eye, Mikey could see the dry tear stains on Junior’s boney cheeks. He said nothing, and instead hugged himself as he waited, the only sounds between them being Junior’s shaky breaths.

Eventually though, he seemed to calm down, his body becoming not as stiff and breathing more steady. Noticing this, Mikey gave him another small smile. “...You want a snack? I’m sure you guys probably have a couple hours before supper.”

Junior thought about it, then nodded. Mikey nodded back, and headed downstairs. Normally, when one of his brothers or his father or April were feeling down after a bad day, he’d try cooking or baking something. But nearly all of his ‘feel good’ dishes took at least half an hour to make (with the exception of soup but, who other than his dad had soup as a snack?), and he didn’t want to leave his friend alone for that long.

So instead, Mikey looked in the fridge and grabbed a couple honeycrisp apples, as well as a couple knives and a couple bowls. Once he was back upstairs, he handed Junior one of each. “I don’t know how you like to eat your apples, but in my family we like to cut them up into slices - probably ‘cause when we don’t, the peels get stuck in our teeth. Trust me, there’s nothing grumpier than a snapper or a softshell or an old rat who can’t get a bit of apple outta’ their teeth.”

Junior smiled slightly, taking the snack. Mikey sat back down next to him and got to work. Even if holding a knife with three fingers was a bit tricky, he’d had plenty of practice and cutting up an apple was as easy as, well, cutting a piece of cake.

Junior, on the other hand… He started cutting, but then stopped and decided to peel first instead. ...Then, he started to cut again. Then peel, then cut - using the point of his knife to dig into the fruit.

Mouth already full, Mikey could only watch quietly as Junior worked, his boney brow furrowed. He was frustrated, though not at the apple itself, even if he sort of took his emotions out on it. Each cut or slice made him feel just a bit more relieved, and as the image in his head started to appear in front of him, his cuts became even more precise.

It took several minutes, but when he finished, all he could do was let out a huge sigh.

“...What made you go with that pattern?” Mikey asked, noting the various swirls and geometric pieces Junior had put into his apple, transforming it from a simple piece of fruit into a ball of art.

Junior shrugged. “I like the way they look together,” he explained quietly, “the curves go with the edges and the points, sort of like those patterns you see on lace or curtains.”

“Oh yeah, kinda!” “Yeah…” Junior then took a big bite of his apple. “...I think the swirls taste better than the diamonds,” he stated. The two looked at each other… and snorted, bursting into giggles. “What? It was going to go rotten if I didn’t eat it,” Junior told him, still chuckling.

“I know!” Mikey laughed, “But geez, heh. Guess that’s one way to break a pattern. ...Actually, that looked pretty fun! What else do you think you can carve?”

Junior shrugged. “...Pa- ah, my father might have some potatoes we could use. And we could just boil and mash them up afterwards, so there’s no waste!”

“Heh, guess we should get to peeling, then,” Mikey told him. He stood up, and then offered his hand. Taking a moment to wipe off his cheeks, Junior took it, letting Mikey pull him to his feet. The two went downstairs, Junior finishing off his apple on the way, and found two more clean knives as well as the sack of potatoes Hueso kept in the kitchen closet.

Once again, as soon as the knife was in his hand, Junior sort of fell into his own little calm world, focusing intensely on his edible canvas - only this time, Mikey was working right along beside him. But, while Junior wanted to go from carving patterns to trying to carve one of his favorite flowers from the Hidden City, Mikey decided to go even more personal.

“...Does your guy have two heads?” the skeleton asked when he took a peak at Mikey’s work.

“No, that’s his hair!” Mikey chuckled, “It’s my dad back when he rocked a pompadour.”

“Ohhh. And those are wings?”

“They’re supposed to be flames but, maybe wings and feathers would be better since his old jumpsuit sorta had an eagle theme to it.”

“Cool. Should be pretty spudtacular then.”

Mikey paused. He looked over at Junior, who was just grinning at him. “...Man, shut up!” he told him, trying not to laugh as he flicked part of a potato peel at him. Junior flicked it back, still grinning to himself as he got back to work. It was a bit frustrating to learn that even raw potatoes weren’t as hard as something like modeling clay or wood, making it so there weren’t as many details as Junior would have liked, but it was still fun.

They began talking more as they worked, Junior switching from one big flower to multiple small ones and Mikey deciding to carve a monster for his dad to fight on the back of his Lou Jitsu potato. 

“Spartina lilies only bloom three months out of the year,” Junior spoke up, “so we’ll have to wait seven more weeks before we can start using them in our centerpieces at the restaurant. But they always bloom in huge groups, and usually when people start picking from that group, the rest of them start to wither early. They probably share some sort of vine or stem system, but if you put them in a vase with other spartina lilies, they still survive longer than if you had one or two mixed into a bouquet.”

“Cool. Makes sense they’d want to be with their flower bros,” Mikey nodded, as if discussing the biology and growing patterns of mystic, underground flowers was the most normal thing in the world. Sticking his tongue out, he tried to sharpen the teeth of his potato monster carving. “Heh, when my brother Raph was younger, he and Donnie wanted to test how sharp and tough his teeth were, so he tried eating a potato raw. He actually bit through it, but he wasn’t able to bite anything for like a week after that.”

“Is that the hardest thing he can bite through?”

“Well, according to Dee and Draxum, with his added mutant strength, he’d probably be able to bite through a metal bar, but our dad won’t let him try.”

“Boo.”

“I know, right? How cool would it be to know you could bite through metal?”

“I think rats can do that too, and they can also bite through walls.”

“Wonder how much we’d have to pay to get Pops to try that experiment.” The two boys chuckled, enjoying themselves while also remaining focused - enough to not even notice the two adults watching them from the doorway.

“Heh, who would have thought,” Piel said quietly, “Potatoes, of all things.” But if that was what cheered his nephew up then hey, he wasn’t going to complain. “Those turtles… They are good kids. Him and his blue brother both.”

Hueso nodded, smiling softly at his son and how happy he was, how he was able to be himself, and how he was able to find a friend that cared - that listened and watched, just as much as Junior did. “...Yes,” he replied, agreeing with his brother whole-heartedly, “they are.”


	3. Smile

To Mikey, at least, the role he had on his team was the role he had in his family. They were more often than not one, not mattering if they were in their home or on the battlefield. And, not that he wanted to toot his own horn, but he was pretty good at his many roles.

He was the team artist, the team chef, occasionally the team distraction when a situation needed one (he still had that hippo costume somewhere in his room, even if it was a bit too powerful), the team’s main provider of Razz-ma-tazz, and for the most part, the team’s positive spirit - the one that tried to smile and think on the bright side, even when things started going wrong. But he knew that was just the tip of the Mike-berg.

Raph has strength, but Mikey had his awesome acrobatics. He was able to flip, climb, jump and tumble anywhere they needed him to. It didn’t matter how high, all he needed was his Kusari Fundo and his sick flips, and he could clear any hurtle.

Leon had his strategies and his ability to think ahead (when he wanted to and wasn’t too lazy or cocky to do so). But Mikey had his out-of-the-box thinking. Like his father before him, he was nearly a master in using his surroundings and props. From makeshift weapons and defenses to things to help him balance - from skee-balls and small tables to umbrellas and beach balls - Mikey never tried to limit himself to ‘traditional’ combat items.

And of course, Donnie had his smarts, especially when it came to tech and science. But Mikey knew he had a different sort of smarts - emotional smarts. He knew how to talk about feelings constructively, how to listen and communicate, and - most important of all, he felt - when to be blunt and totally honest.

...Unfortunately, not even Dr. Delicate Touch could handle every confrontation.

“It’s just… embarrassing, you know?”

“Sort of?” Michi shrugged, “I mean, I don’t really know much about voice changing, to be fair, and I don’t think me growing boobs can really compare. It’s weird but a different weird, but I guess I still sorta get it.”

“On my last birthday, my tía Carne gave me a razor,” Junior spoke up, “What am I supposed to do with that? I haven’t even started growing facial hair yet, let alone decided if I wanna keep it or not.”

Mikey sighed. Feeling the tickle in his throat, he took a long sip of the honey-infused tea his father had made him. Unfortunately, while the pain subsided a bit, his voice still cracked and broke when he spoke. 

“It’s not like they’re bein’ mean about it, it’s just… Raph’s called me ‘little man’ like a dozen times this week! Splinter keeps sayin’ all these things about how I’m growin’ up. And Leon and Dee… I almost wish they were making fun of me. Instead they just keep textin’ me all these online tips and-” he grimaced, “links to puberty blogs, ugh. It’s like, I get it! I’m the baby of the family! I’m the last one to go through this whole situation, you guys don’t have to keep reminding me!”

With his rant over, he flopped down into the grass, coughing slightly. “...Sounds like you’ve been holding that in for a while,” Michi commented as she tossed a rock, skipping it across one of Central Park’s small ponds. Mikey solemnly nodded.

Junior glanced over at him. “I thought you didn’t mind confrontation?” he asked.

“I don’t… at least, I don’t mind it when someone needs to be called out, or when someone’s hiding something where you just know they would feel better if they just let it out in the open,” Mikey replied, “But… like I said, they’re being nice about it. Nice and supportive and- ugh, if I start tellin’ them to back off, doesn’t that make me kind of a brat?” His voice nearly went out on that last word. He took another long sip of tea.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s nice,” Michi said, pointing at him now, “It doesn’t feel nice to you. That’s what matters, right? Whether you want it and whether you think it’s nice? Like…” She scowled slightly, “Like when parents buy you fancy, apparently nice, can’t-get-dirty clothes that you didn’t even want in the first place and make you wear them.” She skipped another rock across the water, her arm putting a bit more force behind it this time.

Junior nodded. “Or unwanted hugs,” he mumbled.

“I guess…” Actually, there was no guessing about it. Mikey knew they were right… But maybe that was why he needed to vent to them in the first place. Not to get advice for a problem that he (and to an extent, his ‘doctors’) already knew how to solve… but just to talk to people who could understand. 

People who knew what it was like to be the youngest in a family. People he didn’t have to force a smile around.

“...You know what you should do?” Michi spoke up, a smirk now on her beak, “You should try and be as quiet as possible while your voice is still doing all- this. Even when your voice is done changing and not cracking as much, don’t talk - or if you have to, keep it short. Let them just sorta forget about it. Then, when you’re ready, call them anonymously and use your new voice - the voice they haven’t really heard before. It’ll totally freak them out.”

Mikey snorted a bit. Normally he hated the spooky phone call trope in horror movies, especially when it was one of those ‘the call was coming from  _ inside the house _ ’ moments. Buuuut being the one who was on the other line - that could be kinda fun.

“I guess that would be a pretty fun prank,” he admitted, “They wouldn’t be expecting it at all.”

“Yep! And then afterwards when the jig is up, you get to show off your new ‘man voice’ without all the ‘aww you’re growing up’ comments, because the actual growing up part will be over. Or at least, when it comes to your voice, it’ll be over.”

“Yeah, that’ll be nice… Though, I guess I should still actually talk to them too. I’m so sick of getting random links - I feel like Donnie’s gonna start subscribing me to online puberty newsletters or something, ugh.” Mikey then smirked. “But I’m totally gonna do that prank afterwards.” Michi high fived him, very pleased with that answer.

“So, you good?” Junior asked, using the same phrase that Mikey often used with him.

Mikey’s smile grew. “Yeah, man,” he put his hand over Junior’s, “I’m good… Thanks for listening, guys.” Junior nodded, smiling back.

“Well, with that taken care of-” Michi stood up and stressed, “You guys wanna sneak over to Chinatown and grab some noodles?”

Junior gave her a flat look. “Are you going to try and steal our toppings again?”

“Maaaaaybe.

Mikey chuckled. “Girl, you’ve gotta learn to keep your chopsticks to yourself.”

“Maybe  _ you guys _ should get better at chopstick dueling,” she retorted.

As the three began walking, Mikey put an arm around them both - loose enough for them to move away if they needed to, but firm enough to get the message. To know that he appreciated them.

His two friends returned the hug, each of them draping an arm around his shell, and Mikey’s smile became twice as bright.


	4. Family

For Michika, the concept of family was… complicated. And frustrating, and annoying. Something that just weighed people like her down, and something that was pretty strongly connected with baggage and not so great memories… 

Family was something she knew in her heart she didn’t need, that she was better off without… But it was also something she could tolerate, for Mikey’s sake, even if she still didn’t really associate herself with it or the word. She could hang out with them, join them for meals and game nights without too much of a complaint, even if she still mentally drew a line between herself and them.

Though… one thing that always stuck in her mind was that, in the case of Mikey’s at least, family was also... very interesting and varied, apparently.

When she had been invited over for Almost-giving, she hadn’t really given much thought to Mikey’s rat dad, or the human he had claimed as his sister and her googlyschmootz girlfriend. Family by adoption was still a thing, whether it was on the surface or in the Hidden City, nothing too noteworthy or weird.

...The ninja-man made out of paper and the flying turtle made out of metal was, admittedly, a bit more strange - but again, she just shrugged them off, accepting them as easily as the rest of Mikey’s family.

A few months later, a new member of the Hamato-Jitsu family showed up - once a simple pet goldfish, now a mutated sister who loved sneaking up on people, scary slasher movies, playing disc hockey with her brothers, and being read to by her dad. Piebald was nice enough, and though she normally stuck to the sewers, Michi still occasionally ran into her late at night in a pond or in the Hudson River.

While she wasn’t always around when they visited, Michi would hear about the other members of Mikey’s extended family too - like a woodchuck that apparently made mind-blowing lemonade and loved puppies, or a bull who used to work in Big Mama’s hotel (“And he survived?!”) but was now trying to become a ballet dancer. When she asked how exactly they were related to them, Mikey always waved it off saying that they were like an ‘uncle’ or a ‘cousin’, and left it at that.

Michika had thought that would be the limit of how ‘interesting’ Mikey’s family could be… Then one night, when she was bored, she called up Mikey on her communication crystal. The box turtle answered, more than happy to talk for a bit and possibly set up some hangout time for later. Before she could start up a conversation however, she noticed the walls behind him, and how off they seemed.

“That doesn’t look like the Lair,” she commented, “Where are you at, dude?”

 _“Oh, weeeell-”_ **_“Michelangelo, who are you speaking with?”_ ** a new, much more gruff voice asked, **_“That doesn’t sound like O’Neil-”_ ** _“Don’t worry, she’s cool, trust me!”_

“Uhhh, Mikey? Who was that?”

 _“Oh, that was just Baron Draxum,”_ he told her, _“It’s no biggie, really!”_

Michi stared at her crystal. “...I’m sorry, Baron Draxum?! The sheep guy who lives at the top of Devil’s Backbone and who kidnaps trespassers for his alchemy experiments?”

The gruff voice scoffed. **_“Is that what people are saying about me? Honestly, you hold yourself up in your castle for thirteen years in order to recreate and perfect a previously destroyed, yokaikind-saving experiment, and all anyone else can do is spread unflattering rumors. Also, I don’t kidnap yokai, I only kidnap humans!”_ **

_“USED TO. You USED TO kidnap humans,”_ Mikey said, giving Draxum a pointed look before glancing back down at his phone, _“Yeahhh he’s kinda the reason we exist. He used his ooze and my pop’s DNA to mutate me and my brothers, so in a way he’s kind of my second dad!”_

“Wow… That is just- ...wow,” Michi said, nearly speechless.

_“Wow-good or wow-bad?”_

“I mean, it’s not like I hate the guy or anything-” Frankly she didn’t know much about the Baron, other than the fact that his face had been plastered across the Hidden City Police Station screens for the past couple weeks. 

As she had said, all Michi really knew about him was through rumors and old stories of ancient times, and even those were probably only half-true at best. “-it’s just, surprising you know? Never would’ve thought Baron Draxum was part of your family too. That’s like- like having Big Mama as your aunt or your mom or something.”

There was a long stretch of silence. “...Are you SERIOUS-?!”

_“I mean, she’s not REALLY but my dad and her are exes, and she sorta played a role too, since if it weren’t for her Draxum never would have found Lou Jitsu in the first place-”_

**_“Michelangelo, PLEASE tell me you’re not about to try and turn Big Mama into a ‘good guy’ as well.”_ **

_“I’m not, I’m not! I’m just sayin’!”_

Unable to really say anything else, Michi just chuckled, shaking her head. “Geez, Orange Spice… Just when I thought your family couldn’t get any weirder.”

Though, to Mikey’s credit, in the coming weeks and months, he did have plenty of progress to report. Small things like Draxum thriving in his new human job and being civil with his neighbors, as well as big things like actually saving humans and promising not to stir up trouble using mystic stuff (for the most part). 

And, as it turned out, Mikey wasn’t the only one with a family member who had a bit of a criminal record. Because the next time they went over to Casa del Hueso (Mikey’s name for it) to visit, Junior had someone he wanted to formally introduce them to.

“Tío Piel, these are my friends Michelangelo and Michika. Guys, this is my uncle.” Michi looked at the skinman, immediately noting his pirate-esque fashion.

“Nice to meet you!” Mikey grinned, shaking his boneless, jiggling hand, “Or, I guess - nice to meet you outside of a fight. Glad you made it through that giant portal okay, by the way.”

Piel chuckled. “Heh, yes. I really should thank your brother for that little vacation the next time I see him.”

“Soooo, you're a pirate, right?” Michi spoke up. Junior didn’t react - it wasn’t like it was a secret - though Mikey gave her a bit of a look that she ignored. “‘Cause I know I've seen your face up on posters.

“Er, w-well, I have not plundered anything in some time, you see!”

“But you still used to be one?”

“...Si?” Piel answered quickly, looking incredibly sheepish now.

Michika just smiled at him. “Cool.”

“ _Michi, no,_ ” her friends said in unison.

For being a former pirate, Piel was a pretty chill guy. And, while he encouraged her to ‘go straight’ too, he did offer her a few escaping pro-tips, as well as a couple ‘fun facts’ about the city prison should she ever end up there, all of which Michi greatly appreciated. 

Yes, the families of her friends were as varied as they were interesting. She never would have expected they were related to fairly high ranking criminals, nor that they would welcome them into their lives with open hearts, flaws and all. It was surprising, but also nice.

(She silently admitted to herself that, if she ever became more comfortable with the concept and the word, it was nice to know that there was a good chance that acceptance would be waiting for her too.)


	5. Companionship

“Food’s up!” Mikey set the two dishes on the old coffee table that they had dragged out from some closet. In one hand he had taco pizza, and in the other he had a platter of a baker’s dozen cucumber pizza bites.

“Yaaaay,” Michi grinned, grabbing one of the cucumbers.

“I thought kappa liked cucumbers ‘cause they’re so watery,” Junior commented as Mikey plopped down in-between them, the trio having already made a comfy spot for themselves in the TV room of the Lair out of beanbags, blankets and plush pillows, “doesn’t baking them dehydrate them?”

“Yeah but, they’ve still got that cucumber crunch and that subtle cucumber taste - plus melty cheese and sauce - so it’s worth losing some of the water,” Michi told him, “and hey, once a cucumber always a cucumber.”

“Fair enough,” Junior shrugged, not really being one to debate the pros and cons of cucumbers.

Wanting his best friends to serve themselves first, Mikey grabbed the remote. As always on their BFF Hangout Nights, since Michika and Hueso Jr. got to pick the menu, he got to pick the movie. Though Mikey still tried to pick something they’d all enjoy, knowing that they weren’t really big fans of Lou Jitsu or Jupiter Jim (a concept that was still a bit unbelievable to him, but one he accepted nonetheless).

Meanwhile, Junior was helping himself to a slice of taco pizza - a topping-combo that Mikey had sworn he had perfected just for him. It certainly looked that way - the meat cooked and smelling like it was seasoned well, the cheddar sprinkled over it perfectly melty, and the shredded lettuce and tomato bits on top totally fresh while the broken up taco shells remained crunchy.

The skeleton took a big bite of his slice, being careful not to let too many toppings fall off. As soon as the spices hit his tongue, he closed his eyes as he enjoyed the flavor, completely satisfied.

Catching this reaction, Mikey grinned before clearing his throat. “Is the pizza to your liking, my good skele-sir?” he asked, using his ‘fancy waiter’ tone.

Junior giggled, grinning back at him. “Si, si. Tan delicioso!” he replied, putting on an equally fancy voice, “Best taco pizza I’ve ever had! Simply spec-taco-lar.”

“Booooo,” Michi said from the sidelines before scarfing down another cucumber pizza bite.

“I’ll be sure to send your punny compliments to the chef,” Mikey told him, “Although if you ask me, it was kiiiiinda cheesy.”

“Hmph, sorry, I dough know what you’re talking about,” Junior retorted, “Besides, I thought the customer was always right?”

“Oh, but of course!” Mikey bowed towards him, his accent becoming even more exaggerated, “Please forgive me, I didn’t mean to be so… hard-shelled?”

“Does that one even work?” Junior asked, still snickering at the box turtle’s antics.

“It’s a taco pun, it works,” Mikey insisted, “No way am I losin’ another pun off with you.”

“Fine. But if you don’t want to lose to my cheesy puns-” Junior looked Mikey straight in the eyes, his face flat now. “Get gouda.” Mikey snorted, groaning in-between his laughter.

“You guys are the dorkiest bunch of dorks that ever dorked,” Michi told them before poking Mikey’s arm, “But come on, you goof, pick a movie already.”

“Fine, fine,” Mikey poked her back before picking the remote back up. They settled on some old tv movie about a middle school baseball player with a love of cooking and wanting to compete in a cooking contest without upsetting his teammates. It was a bit cliche, but it was easy to watch and had decent writing and jokes, so it worked well enough.

As the movie played on, Junior took out his fidget spinner, twirling it quietly as he continued to watch. Michi, having already polished off her cucumber bites and two cups of green tea, moved the dishes to the side and leaned over the table, stretching her arms out a bit though still being careful not to tilt her head too much. As for Mikey, he had fished out a notebook and pencil from his shell and had begun alternating between writing down food ideas from the movie that he wanted to try and doodling.

They picked an animated movie for their next flick in the BFF Night movie marathon - Mikey really liked the colors and the background and character designs while all of them could enjoy the story and jokes. However, as they started searching for a third movie, Michi could feel herself getting the munchies. “You guys wanna take a break and grab some snacks?” she asked them as she sat up.

“Do we have a choice?” Junior rhetorically asked in return, not looking up from the intricately decorated wooden skull that he had started working on about half an hour earlier. (He found that while it wasn’t quite as fun as working on a model, carving was still pretty enjoyable in it’s own right and gave him a bit more creative freedom too, like how working on a centerpiece or flower arrangement for his father’s pizzeria did.) Though, he silently admitted that in a way, wanting to work on his carving meant that he was starting to get just as fidgety as Michi (and probably Mikey too) was.

Maybe that was why the orange turtle smiled when he said, “We don’t have much in the cupboards since we haven’t gotten groceries yet, but there’s a place a few blocks away that sells jars of corn kernels - which means I’ll have the chance to show you guys how to make some razz-ma-tazzed filled popcorn!”

“As long as ‘razz-ma-tazzed’ means delicious and not too salty, I’m in,” Michi smirked, with Junior nodding in agreement. So, after Mikey grabbed his hoodie, the three set off. 

It was around 10 p.m., which meant in their neighborhood at least, there weren’t too many people near to spot two yokai and a mutant walking around - and those who did see them, like the poor cashier at the shop that was stuck working the last of the late night shift, most likely wouldn’t give them a second glance.

Unfortunately, that didn’t mean that there weren’t still eyes on them…

“No, you see, the wok helps you get an even coating of season all throughout your popcorn,” Mikey tried to explain, “It’s just more effective, trust me.”

“Maybe, but I’d still say using the microwave-thingy would be faster,” Michi told him, her arms folded behind her head as she walked, “What was the point of humans making something that’ll cook food in like a minute if they’re still gonna use things like ovens and stoves?”

“Texture,” Junior said simply. Mikey nodded, agreeing with that.

“Fine, but if cooking popcorn is gonna be a whole thing, I’m grabbing an extra snack for myself that I can eat on the walk home. Do you think that one bodega’s still open? ‘Cause I could use-”

Suddenly, something whizzed by their heads, making all three of the young teens flinch. A shuriken hit the side of a streetlamp, leaving a deep cut before bouncing off and landing on the sidewalk. Mikey whipped around, and saw at least half a dozen foot faces crawling out of the shadows, their blue eyes staring back at them. “That’s weird, haven’t seen these guys in a while,” Mikey muttered. He hadn’t seen the flame heads in a while either, and paper ninjas didn’t usually work alone. So either they were sent out to search for some other evil mystic weapon after their first one was defeated… or Mikey had just led his friends into an ambush.

But Mikey was calm. It might have been long time no see when it came to the Foot Clan, but he still knew how to fight off these guys. “You guys stay back, alright?” he told his friends, fishing his kusari-fundo out from underneath his hoodie. Seeing the weapon, the paper ninjas rushed forward towards him. With a whoop, Mikey flung his ‘fundo at the ninja, managing to hit and destroy three of them with one shot.

“Whoa!” Michi blinked, clearly impressed, “I always forget how good he is with that thing-” Suddenly, she heard Junior cried out. A pair of paper arms wrapped themselves around her, but Michi quickly fought back, ripping through the flimsy limbs that tried to bind her. Spinning back around, she took her water gun off her hip and fired. The paper ninja immediately melted, becoming nothing more than a soggy pile.

Looking over at Junior, she saw him slash at the ninja a few times using his pocket knife. It took him a bit longer, given his weapon, but his opponent also met the same fate and eventually burst into confetti. “Nice one, Skullcap!” Michi cheered. Junior gave her a shaky smile in return.

A whoosh of light and heat turned their attention back to the main battle. While there was plenty of confetti now on the street, more ninja were coming. Mikey had no doubts about this being an ambush now, but while a small voice reminded him that there was no shame in hitting his panic button and alerting his family, he knew he still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

“Hot soup, baby!” he grinned, pulling his ‘fundo back slightly as he began spinning it in a small circular motion. The ball on the end of the string cackled as it released a mini fire tornado, burning several of the paper ninja to a crisp. Unfortunately, another team of ninjas were coming to take their place.

Taking aim, Michi fired another couple shots of water. She hit one ninja in the face, knocking it down. Another got a watery hole through its chest, causing it to fold in on itself and crumble. She gave the new confetti piles a bit of a cocky grin, but it unfortunately couldn't last.

More ninjas came up from behind them, and while some quick shooting stopped most of them, one of the ninjas was actually smart enough to dodge, managing to get close enough to grab Michi’s shoulders. It pushed her back in an attempt to tackle her, using an arm to knock her sunhat off, and Michi gave a bit of a small gasp when she felt the back of her head and neck get wet. In her panic, she tried to push the ninja away, but webbed hands with short nails weren’t exactly effective.

“Get off her!” Junior shouted, pulling at the ninja’s waist. Once there was enough space between it and Michika, Junior stabbed the ninja in the stomach and cut until it became confetti. Michi sighed, her legs feeling wobbly. 

“Thanks, bones,” she said. Junior said nothing as he hooked his arm around hers, giving her support. He was shaking, though more from anxiety than fear. A teeny pocket knife meant mostly for crafting could only do so much - it wasn’t exactly a saber or a cutlass and Junior didn’t have a ton of hand-to-hand combat experience either. He’d try to defend his friend as much as he could, but there was only one other person who could finish this fight.

Mikey seemed to know this too, and as the last wave of ninjas moved towards him and his friends, he made sure to work fast. Letting out another holler, he hooked his ‘fundo around one of the ninjas and yanked. But instead of being ripped in half, the ninja was knocked into the one next to it, and the two of THEM were knocked into the next ninja, and the next-

“Heads up, guys!” Mikey yelled out. Michi and Junior ducked down as the glowing orange chain flew over them, snagging a couple more ninjas on the way. Once he had all of them, Mikey sped up his attack before finally launching all the ninja up into the air. And, now that they were all in one spot- Still keeping his fiery momentum, he leapt up, using the streetlamp to get some extra air, and-! “Ka-POW!” -Brought the ball of his kusari fundo down on the ninjas like a fiery cannonball. 

Despite everything, Junior and Michi still watched with awe, their eyes wide as they were reminded that their goofy, orange-wearing best friend could be a real force of nature when he wanted to be - his own eyes a solid white as he kept a good grip on his weapon’s handle, almost looking like he was flying as he posed in mid-air.

Confetti and dying embers rained down on the now-empty street, hitting the ground before Mikey could. Taking a moment to rest, he quickly looked around, and relaxed even more when he saw no more glowing eyes or foot faces looking back at him. With that settled, he raced back over to his friends. “You guys alright?”

“Michi-” “I’m fine, Junior.” Michi grunted a bit, trying to get her footing. She glanced at her water gun - it had been a choice between defending and reserving, and all her shooting had taken it down to only a quarter of the way full. “Ugh, I just- where’s my stupid hat-?”

She tried to walk off, but nearly stumbled. Mikey caught her and eased her down, frowning at the bowl in her head. It wasn’t completely empty, but it was fairly low. Taking the gun from her, Mikey shot the remaining water into her head, filling it about halfway. “We’ll have to grab some water at the store,” he told her, “Sorry…”

“...” Michika nudged him. “Come on, Mikaboo. I know you didn’t plan on us getting attacked, and it wasn’t like I was completely emptied. I’m fine, so stop worrying…”

“I know, but…” The kappa looked at him. She could see that look in his face, knowing both exactly what he needed as well as what he wanted to give. So, only half reluctantly, Michi opened her arms, and Mikey brought her in for a hug. During the embrace, she felt a third, much bonier hand on her shell, reminding her that Mikey wasn’t the only one who had been concerned about her.

Once upon a time, she would have been far too independent and strong-willed to even acknowledge someone else’s concern, let alone accept it. There had also been a time where she would have resented having to be saved or helped by someone, out of both annoyance and the worry that they’d claim she owed them. But that was then and this was now, and in that moment, she was okay with letting her best friends hold her for just a little while.

Mikey had a quick phone call with Donnie about the incident, assuring his bro that they were alright and giving him a heads up in case there were more Foot out that night. Once that was taken care of, the three continued on their way as if nothing had happened, albeit they were a bit quieter now. Junior fidgeted with one of the strings of his hoodie, twisting and untwisting it around his finger. Every once in a while Michi would rub her eyes, her head still a bit fuzzy from the water loss.

“...How are you able to do all those flips and get up in the air that high?” she asked suddenly.

Mikey gave her a bit of a look. She’d seen him do ninja stuff before, why was she asking now. “Guess I’m just naturally springy, since I’ve never really had a problem with flipping or jumping, even when I was little. Maybe I just got the springy gene from my pop or somethin’.”

“Probably,” she said, not looking at him now, “I mean, I don’t know many people who can do things like that - not even yokai. So yeah, I guess you’d have to have it in your genes or something to do moves like that.”

“She’s trying to say you’re a badass,” Junior stated, “and that we were really impressed.”

Mikey chuckled at that while Michi, not even trying to deny it, gave the skeleton a smirk. “Careful, Skullcap, you wouldn’t want your papi to hear you talking like that.”

Junior just scoffed. “You should hear some of the things my father says in Spanish when he thinks no one is around.”

Mikey laughed harder at the thought of someone as ‘distinguished’ as Senor Hueso just cutting loose like that. When he settled, he gave Michi a small smile, silently thanking her for the compliment. He could easily acknowledge how nice it was to be admired, especially by people he cared about. Michi responded by grabbing the rim of his hood and pulling it over his eyes, giggling when he squawked at her for it.

Thankfully there were no more interruptions and it didn’t take long for the trio to arrive at the small market. Mikey grabbed his kernels along with a couple spices he was nearly out of at home, a bottle of water, a prepackaged lunchmeat sandwich for Michi and an apple-flavored pop for Junior.

With their spirits officially lifted thanks to thoughts of tasty snacks and watching movies till they dozed off, Mikey was a bit more talkative on the way back, taking the time to gush about the art and animation from the film they watched earlier with his friends occasionally interrupting to give their own comments.

From the streets of NYC to the humble sewer kitchen of the Hamato-Jitsu household, Mikey worked at making the PERFECT stovetop popcorn while Junior munched on the last of his cold taco pizza, not even bothering to try and stop Michi whenever she reached over to snatch a bit of crumbled shell or lettuce.

With all of them knowing how late it was getting, their positions on the floor changed a bit when they were finally able to sit back down in front of the screen, with Michika now in the middle instead of Mikey, a pillow propped up against the old arm chair behind her head. On the surface it was just a precaution to make sure that, if she dozed off, she wouldn’t be at risk of leaning over and spilling. However, to herself at least, she wouldn’t deny that it was kinda nice being in the middle of a friend sandwich.

Both she and Junior took their hats off, the latter leaning his head onto Michi’s shoulder. Mikey did the same on her left side as the opening credits of their third movie of the night faded in. They munched on popcorn, occasionally throwing it at one another, smiling and quietly commenting as the film rolled on, and - above all else - simply enjoyed each other’s company.

Yep… Just another BFF Night, give or take an interruption by an evil foot-related cult.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus points if you guessed the first movie that they watched


	6. Understanding

Michi never claimed she was an honest kappa, but she liked to at the very least think of herself as a clever kappa.

Even with Mikey’s scarily accurate intuition, she had still managed to prank him several times since the night they met. In that time, she had also managed to prank each of his family members (with the exception of SHELLDON and Frankenfoot obviously, given how her pranks almost always involved water. She was a total troll at times, but she wasn’t a monster).

But as sweet as those victories were, there was still one person she had yet to prank…

“Hey, Junior?” Michika spoke up, interrupting their game of dominoes, “I left my water bottle in the kitchen, could you grab it for me please?”

“Okay,” Hueso Jr. nodded, standing up. As he left, Mikey narrowed his eyes a bit at the kappa.

“Since when do you leave a room without grabbing your water first? Just what are you planning,  _ hmmm? _ ”

“What do you mean?” Michi replied, batting her eyes a bit before making her move. “Your turn, Orange Spice.”

“Hmph…” As Mikey looked over his dominoes, Michi listened for any sort of tell that her prank was a success. But all she heard was the sound of footsteps coming back towards the Hueso family living room. 

“Here,” Junior said as he entered, handing her a glass - not the bottle that she had carefully and subtly cut open, but a glass - of water, his hands and the edges of his sleeves completely dry. Pouting a bit, Michi mumbled a thanks and took the glass.

Hmph, lucky guess… She had decided to go small with that prank, given that Hueso Jr. was a sort of a sensitive kid, but maybe she had been too subtle. That or Junior had fallen for a similar prank before and was familiar with the trick. Either way, Michi knew she had to step it up a little.

...That had been several months ago. Several months of stepping it up, and several months of being totally outsmarted. By that point, Michi was done playing nice. Now it was time for one of the biggest pranks in her arsenal, and while she usually used alleyways, she could work with an atrium.

“I’m gonna go to the restroom real quick,” Michi said one afternoon as the three of them began a game of air hockey in the Lair’s arcade, “Mike, swap out with me.”

“Can do!” Mikey grinned, catching Michi’s striker as she sled it over towards him. Smirking back at him, she rushed out of the game room, her trusty water gun bouncing against her hip. 

She worked fast, and came back in almost no time at all. She also kept her cool, even allowing the three of them to play a couple more rounds of the game before speaking up again. “...Eh, this is getting kinda boring,” she said, “You guys wanna do something else?”

“Like what?” Junior asked. Michi shrugged, and the two glanced over at Mikey - it was his house, after all.

The box turtle thought for a few moments. “Oh! Hey, we could hang in my room and just chill out. I just got some more loose paper and some extra colored pencils, we can just doodle and listen to some music on my boom box. Dad’s out and Dee’s probably got his headphones on, so we don’t have to worry about anyone asking us to turn it down.”

“Sounds good to me,” Michi nodded before smirking, “Race you there!” With that, she turned on her heel, laughing at Mikey when he gave a “Hey!” Once she reached the doorway, she slid out of view and grabbed the hanging string…

“No way are you gonna beat-!” Michi yanked, and from high above the arcade, the gerry-rigged water gun let out a huge blast of water. Mikey cried out stumbling back, groaning and wiping his eyes.

Michika laughed again. “Hook, line and sinker! Ha, I got you guys go-” she stopped.

While Mikey was still trying to wipe his face off, Junior was crouched down into a ball, completely dry! Once he was sure there wasn’t going to be a second attack, the skeleton boy straightened up, only giving Michi a flat look in return as she stared at him in disbelief.

“Heh, wow!” Mikey grinned, “And I thought I had killer reflexes!” He offered Junior a high five, which he took, offering his friend a small smile as well.

“...So, are we still going to go draw?” Junior asked.

Michi sighed. “Yeahhh, I guess.”

The three continued hanging out and enjoying themselves, but while Michi was still letting herself be part of each activity and conversation, her most recent pranking failure was still sort of hanging over her like a soaked lily pad hat. They stayed long enough to join the Hamato-Jitsus for supper, and then went on their way as soon as the sun went down.

“...Okay,” Michi finally said after a few minutes of walking, “How do you do it? How are you able to see my pranks coming?” Junior shrugged, and Michi rolled her eyes. “Come on, man, don’t give me that. How do you know?”

“You left with your water gun, and came back without it. You only take it off when you’re planning on squirting someone or when you need to refill, so I figured something was up,” Junior told her, his eye sockets locked on the sidewalk as they continued on, “I notice every time you make a cut in a water bottle too, or when you loosen the cap on something. When you-”

“Okay, okay,” Michi stopped him, wincing a bit now. Maybe she didn’t want to know how he could see her pranks coming a mile away, apparently. “I get it, I’m not as clever as I think.”

Junior just shrugged again. “I’m good at noticing details…”

“Right… So then, Bone Boy, if you can see my pranks coming, then why don’t you just prank me back?” she asked him.

Turns out, that answer was pretty simple too. “I don’t like pulling pranks.”

“...So, you don’t like pranks, but you don’t do or say anything when I try to pull them?”

“They’re easy to ignore and work around.” Michi pouted a little at that. “And I don’t mind them too much.”

“You’re kinda contradicting yourself there, Skullcap,” she told him, “Thought you hated pranks.”

“I don’t like them, but I don’t mind yours,” Junior corrected her, actually managing to look at her now, “They aren’t the worst types of pranks. Besides, you don’t let anyone tell you what to do, so it’s not like you’d stop if I told you to. I know you like pranks, so I deal with it.”

Michi stared at him for a moment, listening to the sentiments in-between the words. It might have sounded a bit harsh on the surface, but when she thought about it, she began to get what he meant.

_ ‘I’m not going to try and force you to change, even if I don’t understand you, because I know you don’t want to be changed. I accept you the way you are because I want to.’  _ Junior, as silly and vocal as he could be at times when he was comfortable, wasn’t a social guy by any means judging by how he’d still get a bit antsy if there were too many people talking too loudly in one room or if he was surrounded by strangers.

If he hated her pranks that much, he would probably have had no problem ditching her and choosing to only hang out with Mikey instead, refusing to have any more BFF Nights with them if she was there. But he didn’t… and he wasn’t. He accepted her and the type of person she was, pranks and all - just like Mikey did.

“...Huh… So, what did you mean by ‘not the worst types of pranks’?” Michi asked, both to change the subject and because she was curious, “What pranks are worse?”

“...Being lied to for a joke,” Junior mumbled as he fiddled with the string of his hoodie, “Or... when you can’t tell if someone’s being serious or not, and they make fun of you for that… Or people starting rumors or saying things that aren’t true...”

Michi’s eyes widened a bit. Oh…  _ Oh _ . Geez, if those were types of pranks he’d had to deal with at Mystic Middle School then, no wonder he didn’t really like pranks. “...Sorry.”

“Yeah…” The two didn’t say much after that, eventually separating when they came to a certain street, with Junior heading towards his home and Michi heading towards the park.

A few days passed before the two met up again. They were hanging out at Junior’s place again, and Michi arrived before Mikey did since he and his brothers were dealing with some sort of… hypnotizing hippo and his worm boyfriend? Whatever.

“Hey dude,” Michika greeted when he opened the door.

“Hey,” Junior nodded back. As he was used to by this point, Michi quickly made herself at home by grabbing a bowl of tortilla chips and a bottle of water. Keeping an eye on said bottle, Junior kept waiting for Michi to ask him to open it or offer him a sip or something like that. 

But that never happened. Instead, Michi just sat down criss-cross on the couch and began munching on her chips. “...So hey, I heard your dad is hosting like a fancy teen night at Run of the Mill?”

“Prom Night,” Junior corrected her, sitting down as well, “One of the high schools in the Hidden City is having their prom, and Pa- my father is trying to expand our customer base by appealing to teens for one night.”

“Heh, guess that means you guys are gonna have to do a bit of redecorating then, since no offense but the restaurant’s kiiiinda old fashioned. Lots of flashy decorations and stuff, right?”

“Probably,” Junior nodded, sitting up a bit straighter now, “...I’m helping with the centerpieces, and I get to make all of them instead of just a few.”

“Cool… You wanna tell me about some of the ideas you have in mind for them?” Junior looked directly at her. Michi just smiled back, and once he was sure that she really did want to hear about it, the skeleton grinned and began going over the flowers that he wanted to use, eye sockets practically lighting up as he quickly spoke.

Michi didn’t really understand the appeal of flower and centerpiece arranging, just like Junior didn’t understand the fun of playing pranks and squirting people with water. Most of the terminology just went right over her head, but that was fine. Michi just kept listening as she munched on her snack, occasionally asking a clarifying question or giving a quick comment.

Because if that was what it took to let him know that she accepted him too, then she would gladly listen.


	7. Honesty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I give another quick shoutout to my best friend's OCs in this chapter ^v^ So yeah, any names you don't recognize, they belong to her

“...Huh. Guess someone was in a chocolatiering mood,” Michi stated as she and Hueso Jr. were led into the Lair’s kitchen. 

Sitting on the counter were three trays of three different types of chocolate truffles. One was made with deliciously bitter dark chocolate with a chocolate-dipped strawberry on top. Another tray was filled with mexican chocolate truffles infused with a creamy center and sprinkled cinnamon on top. And, on the final tray, were simple milk chocolate truffles with sprinkles.

“Heh, yeahhh, sorta,” Mikey chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. His friends shrugged it off - after nearly five years of coming over to his place, they were pretty used to their friend randomly getting in the mood to just make a certain thing over and over. (Like the week Mikey decided to make nothing but corn dishes. Who would’ve guessed there were so many uses for corn?! Though, at the very least, it was more of a pleasant veggie than brussel sprouts.)

Little did they know that for Mikey, this wasn’t JUST a fun dessert to make for his bff’s… After serving them a couple truffles each, he sat down and waited for their reacti-

“Mmmm, so GOOD!” “Really really good! Perfect amount of cinnamon.” “And you’re the only guy I know that can balance bitter and sweet perfectly. Seriously though, give me more.”

Mikey laughed, handing Michi another truffle. He felt warmth spread through his chest and out the rest of his body, a very familiar feeling yet one he never tired of. He loved making his friends smile with his cooking… loved doing a lot of things with them, actually, and he knew in his heart that he would love to do even more with them.

“...You guys ever think about dating?” he asked suddenly.

The two stopped, and looked at him. “Depends on who we’re dating in this scenario,” Junior asked after a moment.

“Well… I was kinda hoping that would be me,” Mikey said, his smile a bit softer now, “Would you guys ever consider… dating me?”

Michi had never known Mikey to be bashful about anything. He was emotional and loud and about as eager to jump into a situation as his oldest brother and human sister often were. Even when he’d get freaked out and pop into his shell for a bit, he’d often pop back out just as bold and brave as ever. That braveness was still present on the box turtle’s face, but it was also mixed with a sense of vulnerability - a sense of such raw openness that even his Dr. Feelings persona would do a bit of a double-take on.

“So, where did… all this come from?” Michi asked, curious though maybe not surprised.

“Well, you remember a week ago, when we were all talking over the phone and you guys were helping me decide what I should wear to April and Sunita’s wedding?” Mikey asked, chuckling a bit at their confused looks, “Well… I guess in that moment, something just clicked.”

“...By talking about whether you should wear a tux or a dress to your human sister’s wedding that’s still almost a year away?” Michi said, “Heh, not exactly the most romantic moment ever, Mikaboo.”

“You sure you don’t just have wedding fever?” Junior asked, “Papa gets that way sometimes when there’s a really sweet proposal at the restaurant. Or when he’s really into a telenovela.”

“Nah, trust me, it’s not just the wedding, or seeing other people get together.” If that was the case, Mikey would have asked them out a long time ago.

His life had always been filled with love from his family, but over the past few years, there had been plenty of romantic love intertwined with various aspects of his life too. In addition to his favorite lesbians, there was Raph and Wil hooking up, Donnie and Eli eventually facing their feelings, Leon falling HARD for Usagi, Splinter and Draxum having their whole on-again off-again thing, and even some of the villains they fought eventually finding love!

But during these moments, it never felt like he was missing out or felt like he needed to force himself into romance. He was more interested in movie nights, various art projects, keeping up with his Run of the Mill shifts as he learned new techniques, and getting in and out of trouble with both his best friends and his brothers, depending on the night. For Mikey, romance was just never really a thing he had focused on… that is, until it ended up hitting him right in the face.

Blushing a bit now, though his smile never faltered, Mikey continued on. “It was such a normal thing… The three of us talking, goofing around, bein’ dumb and being there for each other and just… just _being_ , you know? After we all hung up, I got to thinking about how much fun the wedding was gonna be. Not just how great it was gonna be seeing April getting married, but... getting to experience that moment with all the people I loved. Eating, laughing, dancing and just having you guys be there with me. Having you guys _here_. And, I think that’s when it hit me like ‘...Wow. I wanna spend the rest of my life with these guys’.”

“...Honestly,” Michi said quietly, feeling her own vulnerability, “You guys are the only ones I would want to spend my life with.” The only people she wouldn't be afraid of trusting enough to spend her life with.

“I… Y-yeah, same here,” Junior mumbled, reminding Mikey of the shy kid that first walked past him all those nights ago on his first shift at Run of the Mill, “But… I don't exactly have a lot of dating experience-”

“Heh, unless Orange Spice here’s had a ton of secret lovers, none of us have that experience,” Michi told him, trying to lighten the mood somewhat, despite the slight heat in her face. 

What would dating even be like? They already hung out and shared meals whenever they could. Talked on the phone/communication crystal plenty too - and with a turtle as affectionate as Mikey around, sharing hugs and cuddling up to each other was pretty easy. 

They'd still probably do all that stuff, but now it would qualify as a ‘date’, and while neither Michi nor Junior quite knew how to feel about that, the idea didn't exactly turn them off.

Sort of sensing this, Mikey continued on. “You guys know me, I'm not into labels. As long as we could still spend time together, we could be friends or partners and I wouldn't mind either way. I just wanted to let you guys know how I felt and, you know, how much I cared.” 

Remembering that their possible relationship wasn't exactly ‘usual’ by society standards (then again, when did anything in his life ever go by the norm?), Mikey quickly added, “And, while I wanna be with both of you, if only one of you wants to date me and the other just wants to stay friends, that's cool too.” 

While he was pretty sure that if it were up to just him he wouldn't be able to pick between his two best friends, as far as Mikey was concerned, _any_ option where they didn't have to permanently say goodbye to each other was a good one. “So… What do you guys say?”

By the time the trio of eighteen year olds had worked their way through the rest of the chocolate truffles, they had come up with a solution: Since Mikey had gotten a week to think over his feelings, Michi and Junior would each get a week too before giving their answer.

...As it turned out, all the two needed was three days, and when they all came back together, it felt like both the natural end to a journey and the start of something amazing. Comfortably familiar, yet exhilaratingly new - like whenever Michi would take Mikey’s hand, or when Junior would take Mikey’s arm, or when Mikey would give either of them a peck on the cheek. Most important of all, it felt _right_ \- the three of them together, as friends and partners and everything in-between.

So, maybe the old saying was right: there was no one better to marry (or date, in this case) than your best friends


	8. Unity (epilogue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for reading! ^v^ Hope you enjoyed this set of drabbles and my OCs

After working in kitchens across the world - both above and below grown, human and yokai owned - for nearly half his life, Mikey ached to finally have a restaurant of his own. But, while he knew he’d make his dream come true eventually, Mikey held himself back from reaching for it just yet.

Having a restaurant was important… but making a home for him and his partners was even more important. In hindsight, it might have ultimately been cheaper in the long run to get an apartment on the surface, but the tiny house on the outskirts of the Hidden City (a couple miles away from Devil’s Backbone where Draxum’s long-abandoned castle still stood) was a steal even if they still had to take out a small loan, and Mikey never could resist the urge to have his own space to paint and decorate without any restrictions.

...Well, maybe ‘house’ was a bit generous. Really, with how small and old it was, it was more like a shed or a shack. It had a decent sized living room where they set up a fold-out couch, in case one of them ever needed a bit of extra space, as well as an old coffee table, a radio and an old orb that Draxum had gifted them. The kitchenette was just barely big enough for Mikey to work with, and the space between the toilet, the sink and the bathtub was cramped enough that more often than not, they’d probably hit their foot or their knee on one or the other whenever they went into the bathroom.

As for the bedroom, it just nearly managed to fit a king-sized waterbed for three and a small bedside table to hold Michi’s bowl-water while she slept. But the three perfectly blank walls that would surround their bed - THAT was where they’d make their home. Needless to say, the box with Mikey’s art supplies was the first one they unpacked.

Beside one wall was Michi, flicking and splattering the paint with her brushes however she seemed fit, using plenty of blues and greens and browns, but also occasionally white and orange. She’d sometimes use the brush to mix certain shades, but mostly just had a ball indulging in some splatter painting - so much so that they needed to set down newspaper so that she didn’t stain the carpet. A few streaks from a spray paint was all she needed to tie it together.

On the wall opposite her’s was Junior, using the paint brushes and colored pencils provided to him in much subtler ways. Thankfully, through doodling and keeping at it, he had improved quite a bit with his art. While drawing would never be his favorite creative medium, he still smiled to himself as he worked. He drew pirate ships and buildings and his favorite flowers and favorite patterns, all with as much accurate detail as he could do.

Between them was Mikey, finding a happy medium between the two styles. Sometimes he’d doodle a certain image that held meaning to him, and other times he’d just grab a can or stick his hand in paint and just let loose! Above his art, he stood on his toes to create the finishing touch: a single, stylized tag that simply read ‘M-J-M’.

When they finally finished, they nearly collapsed onto the floor, too tired to care if their paint-covered limbs stained anything. Occasionally one of them would point out something they liked about one of the other walls, but mostly they just sat and enjoyed the sanctity of the room - of  _ their _ room.

As weeks and months passed and boxes were eventually unpacked, their own personal touches continued to spread throughout the house. Whenever he was in the mood, Mikey would throw up a tag either outside or inside, or pin up some fabric or bit of shiny paper that he found inspiring. 

In his kitchen space, he’d sometimes have to pile up pans or boxes just to get everything to fit, but he was still diligent about keeping infestations away. By some sort of magic that only Mikey could provide, even when there was nothing cooking in it, the kitchenette always seemed to smell good and there was also a clean knife available if there was ever a need to do some food carving.

Any decor they’d bring home - whether it was a painting or a small chatchke or shells or a wacky clock from some NYC pawn shop or just something to hang from somewhere - it had a sort of perfectly balanced mismatched feel to it. Fairy lights were hung up as well (mostly because there wasn’t room for a lamp and candles were a bit too flammable). While they had a bad habit of forgetting to unplug them, they kept the place feeling cozy.

Along with having a small flower garden in the space behind their home and a couple potted cacti inside, Junior would put up finished models and wooden carvings wherever he could find the space for them. Along his wall in their room, he also pinned up just a few of the many postcards Mikey and Michika had sent him during their travels.

As for Michi, while she never cared too much for decorating or collecting things, she did have a habit of leaving sealed bags of chips or bags of mystic gummy candies that promised to never get stale or some other treat in various corners for quick snack access. At her insistence, they also had a small inflatable pool near Junior’s garden, which was just deep enough for her to properly soak and relax in was her own little happy space for whenever she needed a taste of her natural element.

In addition, they had a couple bikes with detachable carts for whenever they needed to go into the Hidden City for whatever reason. Years later, when Mikey did finally open up “Razz-Ma-Tazz”, his dream Italian-American-Mexican-Asian fusion restaurant up on the surface, his father’s old portal coin provided a quick commute. 

He would always love New York and the surface, and would always visit his siblings and fathers and friends whenever he could. But with his partners/best friends by his side, he had truly found his own little piece of home that was all theirs - somewhere he didn’t want to give up for anything.

And, as he sat with them on the couch, chilling out as they listened to music, their supper baking in the oven and the soft quilt Raph had gifted them last Christmas comfortably draped over them, Mikey decided that he couldn’t have been happier.


	9. BONUS: Joy

Michi was always dragging Mikey to new places around the Hidden City, so she could have figured that it was only a matter of time until he decided to drag her somewhere on the surface - somewhere she had never been, but would apparently love, according to him. 

Still, he was one of only two people (the other being Hueso Jr., obviously) who could get away with it. So, with a smile, Michi let Mikey lead her to an old brick building somewhere in Brooklyn. 

Stepping inside, Michi immediately perked up at the loud pop music and bright lights. Small sections of the space had colorful carpet, but most of it was taken up by a hardwood circle surrounded by a small wall. On it, dozens of human teens as well as a few families were skating along to the energetic melody as bright pink and blue lights swooped over them. 

“Pretty cool, huh?” Mikey grinned. 

“It’s not bad, Mikaboo, I’ll give you that,” Michi smirked. Admittedly, it WAS really cool. There was certainly nothing like it in the Hidden City, at least. Though, speaking of which- “You sure it’s safe to be here, surrounded by-” she tried to lower her voice in an attempt to sound like Draxum, “those annoying humans?” 

Mikey snorted at her impression before nodding. “Yeah, we’re good, trust me! We came here a couple times to visit April back when she worked at the snack bar here, and no one ever gave us any trouble. Everyone’s kinda focused on their own skating, and I’m pretty sure it’s too dark for anyone in here to really notice someone with green skin.” 

It helped that he was wearing a bright neon tee and shorts (which only seemed to get brighter in the dark of the roller rink) to cover up his shell. To others, it may have still seemed like a risk, but to Michi- 

“Works for me!” she grinned. 

It only took a few minutes for them to rent their skates, but as excited as Michi was to try skating, she still took it slow. She wasn’t afraid of falling or even spilling (even if she didn’t have her water gun, she was certain a snack bar would have a bowl’s worth of water SOMEwhere), but she still didn’t want to ruin a possible good time by being clumsy. 

But, from the moment she stepped out onto the rink, Mikey had his hand intertwined with hers, his grip firm yet still (she gratefully noted) loose enough to allow her to pull away if she wanted to. 

She was still a bit wobbly, naturally, but Mikey’s impeccable balance and guidance kept her on her feet. As a new song began to play (something about trains, but it was also a dance apparently? So weird), they began to speed up their skating. It was similar enough that she could compare it to something like running or even dancing, yet something else about it just made it all seem even more carefree.

Between the music, the neon lights and just the pure energy she was feeling, her pigtails waving freely behind her, Michi couldn’t help but laugh. 

Mikey’s eyes widened, his own grin growing at this reaction. He just knew she would love this! “Come on, come on,” he sang along, giving Michi a bit of a spin as they made another turn, “Do the locomotion with me~!” 

Michi laughed again. “What does that even mean?!” 

“It means keeping skate and just enjoy the night!” Mikey shouted as he let Michi spin him in return, “That’s what I say it means!” 

She squeezed his hand again. “Ha! Well, I think I can do that - as long as you can keep up!” 

“You know I can!” 

So, that’s just what they did, laughing and spinning and skating lap after lap, never letting go of each other. Eventually, they had to step off the rink, wanting to rest while also chowing down on some snack bar crinkle-cut fries. 

Still, Michi hummed along to the music, her eyes occasionally glancing back at the rink. 

“Wow, you must’ve really liked it,” Mikey lightly teased, “Just like I thought you would.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Michi rolled her eyes, still smiling lightly. “Guess that means you know me well, Orange Spice. Congrats.” She wasn’t exactly surprised by this, but even so… She couldn’t deny how nice it felt.

“Heh, not many people out there hate roller skating, so I already had good odds. Oh! Maybe I could find you a pair of skates to wear all the time!” Just imagining Michi skating around the Hidden City and likely messing with people even more than she already did without skates made him giggle. 

The kappa-girl hummed, chewing thoughtfully on a fry. “Eh… nah. I have a feeling it wouldn’t be as much fun outside of the rink.” It wouldn’t be as much fun without him there to skate with her. 

“Ah. Yeah, I kinda get that. …And in that case, we should probably get back out there soon, before they close for the night.” His smile softened a bit. “Wouldn’t want you to miss out.” 

As if on cue, an electrified 80s ballad suddenly came on just as a more mellow song was fading out. A few humans let out a cheer as they began their own impromptu skate-dance routine, energized by the change in mood.

Michi smiled, already reaching for the box turtle’s hand without even realizing it. “Yeah… That sounds pretty good to me, Mike.” Although, she still took the time to quickly finish off her fries, never being one to waste food. Once finished, Michi decided to take the lead this time, and practically racing back out onto the rink. 

Expecting nothing less from his friend, Mikey easily matched her bold stride, letting the flow of the sweet guitar and keyboard riffs work in time with the speed of their skates, allowing his spirit to practically soar. 

He squeezed Michi’s hand, and she squeezed back without hesitation, their laughter practically filling the whole rink as they skated and spun without a care in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I commissioned my friend Jo (dumbdotcomm on Tumblr/Twitter, guide-to-the-galaxy here on AO3) to draw some art of Mikey and Michi, and she decided to draw them roller skating - which in turn inspired me to write a drabble about just that, lol. So yeah, hope you all enjoyed this bonus drabble and of course, credit for the super cute art goes to dumbdotcomm, who is an awesome artist AND writer and you should all definitely check out her stuff ^v^


	10. BONUS: Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yyyyyep, had a couple more ideas for Michi/Mikey/Junior drabbles, lol. May or may not add more after these two chapters, it just kinda depends on whether or not I have more ideas and whether or not I wanna keep adding to this one or make a new fic. Either way, hope you guys enjoy!

It had seemed like a good idea when Mikey suggested it, Hueso Jr. thought to himself. 

After all, Hueso Jr. liked pizza. He liked arcade games, having been in the Turtles’ home arcade before, and he  _ definitely _ liked hanging out with Mikey. Even the idea of going to a human restaurant hadn’t deterred him too much, having seen firsthand just how many humans seemed to dismiss weird features as ‘costumes’ or 'make-up' just as long as there were enough layers of fabric to just barely cover them up.

He had been all for it, but now? Now, Junior was not only having second thoughts, but  **total regrets** …

Albearto’s Pizzeria was certainly a lot different from his papa’s restaurant, and pretty different from the Turtles’ arcade too. There were no corners of quiet to enjoy a candle-lit atmosphere or waiters doing their best to keep customers both satisfied and in line.

Instead, the employees there seemed apathetic at best while their young clientele seemed to focus more on running around laughing and  _ screaming _ than actually eating their pizza. There were a couple birthday parties going on as well, which just seemed to add to the chaos. 

The games weren’t any better, unfortunately. Though they admittedly looked fun to play, Junior could hardly focus on that, given that the sounds and lights of each machine seemed to be cranked up to eleven. Not helping was just how much  _ banging _ and  _ yelling _ there was when kids played them.

Simply put, it was pretty awful. Through the cacophony of sights and sounds surrounding him, he could just barely focus on the story Mikey was telling about an animatronic that he and his brothers had fought there a while ago. 

The pizzeria was both muffled and deafening, and it seemed like no matter how much he tried to just relax, everything just felt as though it were on fast-forward. Too fast, too loud,  _ too much _ . But Junior didn’t say anything. He just continued to fiddle with the strings of his hoodie with one hand and scarf down breadsticks that he wasn’t even hungry for with the other.

“-and so I just started lettin’ them fly! There was no way he could block all of them! Then once I had that pepperoni bot stunned, I decided it was  _ his _ turn to get tossed!” Taking a second to look at Junior to get his reaction, Mikey stopped. “...Hey man, you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Junior answered just a little too fast, his voice just a little too quiet. Even now, he refused to look up from the table, his boney fingers still shakily twisting and pulling at his hoodie strings.

Mikey furrowed his brow a bit. He recognized the signs immediately - not just from past experiences with Junior, but past experiences with Raph and Donnie as well. After all, Junior wasn’t the only guy he knew who sometimes struggled with being overwhelmed by noise (or textures, in Donnie’s case). “Hey, if you’re not feelin’ good, I’m okay with leaving, really! Do you want to-?”

“I’m fine,” Junior repeated, despite giving a wince. He wanted to stay. He wanted to eat pizza and play games and hang out with his best friend. He wanted to be okay. “I’m fine. Keep talking, I’m fine.”

“Junior-” Mikey was cut off by what sounded like a siren and the screech of an electric guitar.

Instantly, Hueso Jr. slapped his hand to the side of his skull, firmly pressing them there. Out of the corner of his eye socket, he could see the curtains from the far-side of the restaurant open up, revealing a happy (and loud) animatronic band.

As they played their song, Junior hunched himself forward, sorta curling into himself as his hands remained. He didn’t hear Mikey try to tell him anything, but he did feel someone gently pull his hood over his head. The hood didn’t completely block everything out, since the brim of his backwards cap prevented it from going any further over, but it did help somewhat.

After what had seemed like forever, the Albearto Band finished their performance, and as human kids cheered, the curtains were closed once again. His hands still shaking, Junior put them down into his lap, gripping his pants.

“...I think we should take our pizza to go,” Mikey said, loud enough (he was always loud, but was never  _ too  _ loud) for Junior to hear him properly, but still making sure his tone was gentle. He smiled as he said this, his hand resting in the center of the table.

“I’m sorry,” Junior mumbled back, blinking back tears.

“Don’t be,” Mikey replied firmly. He then added, “After all, I’m not sorry. I got to hang out with one of my best friends here. I can also hang out with him somewhere else, or we can hang out another day. Either way, I’m just glad I get to be with him at all, you know?”

“...” Junior waited several seconds before nodding. He could absolutely agree that just having Mikey there was the best part of this whole situation.

“So, you wanna go?” Another pause, and then another nod. “Okay.” Coincidentally enough, their server had just arrived with their pizza. “Hey, could we please get this to go instead?” Mikey asked them, “We’d really appreciate it.”

The teen gave a long sigh before dryly answering, “I’ll go get you a box…” Mikey thanked them, and as he got out his handcrafted wallet, he made sure to grab a few extra bills, leaving a gratuitous tip alongside the payment for the pizza itself.

When they had their food boxed-up and ready to go, Mikey made sure to wait for Junior to take his hand. Once he did, Mikey gently led him towards the restaurant’s exit, expertly avoiding any collisions with suddenly-sliding chairs or sugar-crazed seven year olds. 

The improvement was almost immediate with how much Junior seemed to loosen up once they were away from the crowding and bright lights and noise, standing a bit straighter as they slowly walked down the dark and quiet street. 

They were pretty far from any parks, unfortunately, but there was a covered bus stop with a bench just down the way. Once there, they sat the pizza box in-between them, and as they each grabbed a slice, Junior quietly asked Mikey to continue his story - which he was happy to do so.

Of course, Junior was still pretty silent throughout it as he munched on his pizza, but Mikey didn’t mind at all. He didn’t need frequent comments to know that his skeleton friend was listening, and after a while, he could catch the smiles and small chuckles Junior gave at it. By the time he finished recounting Albearto’s second attempt at revenge against humanity, they were both laughing.

“I can’t believe you defeated all of them with music.”

“Heh, well I can, since the song we played WAS pretty amazing,” Mikey casually bragged as he finished up the last of his crust, “Too bad we weren’t able to get another gig after that. But eh, it was still nice to be a band for one night, at least. Heh, our Dad’s  _ still _ mad that we never let him join, though.”

Junior chuckled again. His friend and his family sure did some crazy things… Wiping his fingers off on a napkin, he gave a bit of a sigh. Now that their supper was done, they had to figure out what to do next. Obviously, they could just go down into the sewers and do their planned gaming at the Hamato-Jitsu home like they had several times before. 

But as nice as their arcade was, Junior wanted to do something a bit more special - something just as fun and cool as Albearto’s would have been. And suddenly, it came to him, and his small smile turned into a full-on grin.

“...I know that look,” Mikey said, narrowing his eyes a bit as he smirked at the skeleton boy, “Either you’re about to tell me some goofy joke, orrrrr you’ve got an idea on what we can do next. So come on, Bone Boy, spill it!”

But Junior just continued to widely grin. “I  _ may  _ have something in mind…”

“Well come on, tell me!”

_ “Ehhhhhhh…” _

“Duuuuuuude!”

Junior giggled, standing up suddenly. “Or, I could show you.”

“That works too!” Mikey said, standing up as well as he followed his friend down another street - only briefly having to double-back to grab the empty pizza box.

The next leg of that night’s escapades took a bit longer - in his brief excitement, Junior had forgotten just how far it was. But Mikey had plenty of stamina, especially now that his stomach was full and he had some energy to burn, and he was willing to walk for as long as it took to reach the spot that Junior was so excited about.

Eventually, they arrived at what looked like an abandoned laundromat, its windows boarded up and faded ‘CLOSED’ sign on the inside of the dark, glass door. Either way, it didn’t look like much. But of course, in a town like New York, nothing was what it seemed…

“Pa- My father and I would sometimes come here on weekends. Heh, you guys aren’t the only ones who collect old games - though, I know some of their games are kind of REALLY old, but…” Placing his hand on the handle (which seemed to glow for a split second), Junior pulled instead of pushed - but somehow, the door still opened, and a sudden wave of warm light shone out at them.

“Whoaaaaaa…” Mikey took it all in, his eyes wide. A deep green carpet covered the floor, and lining the walls were big and round lanterns with yellow, blue and pink flames inside them, providing just enough light for the small number of yokai that were there.

On one side, there were retro game cabinets - more retro than what he and his brothers had, their graphics falling more in-line with stuff like “Pac-Man” and “Hot Soup: The Game” than the 64-bit fighting games and Pants Pants Revolution Mikey was used to playing. Still, they seemed to run pretty well, which each of them partially connected to an observation orb instead of having a regular screen.

On the other side, there were more physical games like a crane machine, darts, a yokai-style slot machine (completely with a money-cat aesthetic) and a table to play checkers or cards on - although, the monkey-yokai and the kitsune who were currently sitting there were instead using it for an intense game of mah-jong. 

An old jukebox quietly played tunes in the back of the room next to a pair of gatcha machines that gave out wooden trinkets and mystic candies. There was also a snack and pop machine filled with brands written in Yokai characters that Mikey didn’t recognize, though they still looked pretty good.

“...So,” Junior said, subtly fiddling with his strings again, “yeah, I just thought- the games here are still fun, and different enough from the games you have at home so, yeah, uh, is this-?”

“This is so COOL!” Mikey told him. Now it was his turn to grin in excitement. “Hey, you know me. Secret yokai places on the surface are  _ always _ cool, and a whole secret arcade is even BETTER!”

Junior chuckled, partially in relief. “Yeah... it is pretty cool!”

“And hey, no lines for the games either!” Mikey added as they walked further inside. Definitely a lot more casual and chill than Albearto’s. “...Wait, you said that your pop played games here too?”

“Yep! He’d show me how to play different card games, then we’d play darts or use one of the machines. He’d sometimes try to win me a crane toy too… He wasn’t that great at that part.” The boys shared another small laugh at that. “At least the bronze-coin machines give you a prize no matter what, even if they’re small. Though, they’d be really good in a model or display maybe.”

“Oh man, we’d love getting those little quarter toys too,” Mikey nodded, “Even if they were smaller than actual action figures, we’d always figure out  _ something _ to do with them.”

As the conversation shifted from prizes and the annoyance of getting a repeat toy to the best ways to get high scores on old-school games, the relaxed atmosphere of the semi-mystic arcade never seemed to falter. 

They didn’t need to strike up a bout of friendly competition to keep things fun or interesting (though, that didn’t stop either of them from cheering whenever they DID win), nor did they need the more modern arcade games or top notch prizes. 

All they really needed was each other and another space that they could call their own. A space where they could relax, crack a few dumb jokes, get excited about some cheap prizes, and just enjoy each other’s company in the warm light of the lanterns and the cool glow of the arcade game-orbs.


	11. BONUS: Gratitude

Between the three of them, it was obvious who the best chef was.

Michika was someone who focused more on filling her stomach than the food itself, only savoring the taste when she was able to and almost never being picky. In the safety of the Lair’s kitchen, she allowed herself to experiment with ingredients and spices as Mikey tried to teach her the best he could, and she could admit that sometimes these lessons could be pretty fun. Still, her main focus would always be on actually getting a meal rather than the components of the meal itself.

Junior could get the measurements down perfectly, and though he preferred following visual instructions, he could follow a recipe without much issue. But while his father had found his passions in pizza and running a restaurant, Junior just couldn’t see cooking as much more than a fairly useful skill to have. If anything, he preferred baking and other food mediums that allowed him to focus on the more decorative and detailed aspects of it.

Mikey, meanwhile, had both the interest, the skill AND the passion. He could follow recipes by heart, and know how to diverge from them to satisfy his personal pallet without it leading to disaster. He could see both the artistry and the necessity within cooking. He accepted the challenges that came with cooking whole-heartedly. And, while he enjoyed the satisfaction of a dish well cooked himself, it was even better whenever he was able to see others enjoy his food. 

So, obviously, when it came to homemade snacks and late-night meals with his best friends, Mikey was the one cooking them. Still… Just because someone was the best at cooking didn’t mean that they ALWAYS had to cook.

And, as it turned out, Michi and Junior could be a pretty good team when they wanted to be.

“I think this sauce is just about done,” Michi said as she stirred the pot, adding in a couple more pinches of pepper and garlic. “Just gotta taste it a couple more times, juuuust to be safe.”

“Just make sure there’s enough sauce left for the actual dish,” Junior told her, not looking up from the vegetable he was chopping.

“Yeah, yeah… You got enough slices there, skullcap?” Michi countered, smirking a bit at the several full containers of sliced veggies and meat.

“Almost,” Junior answered, “And yes, I made you a ‘taste test’ bowl too.” He pointed at a small bowl filled with green peppers, olives, yellow peppers, and other assorted toppings.

Michi’s smirk grew, becoming something a bit more genuine. “See, this is why you’re one of my friends.”

Junior nodded, smiling even if his eyes were still focused on his chopping. “You want some cheese too when I start grating it?”

“Thanks, but nah. Raw cheese is okay but… on second thought, maybe just a little on top.”

“I figured, but I wanted to ask _parmesan_ before putting it on. Like… Veggies and meat are good I guess, but cheese is grate-er, you know?”

The two stared at each other. Junior gave her a toothy grin. “...I’m gonna pour this sauce on your head,” Michi told him.

Of course, there were no actual food fights - not while there was still actual work to do. With the dough finally ready, Michi put the sauce on before sticking it in the oven before helping Junior prep the ingredients for the sides - mozzarella sticks and caesar salad that may or may not have included cucumbers at Michi’s request.

Their work was casual but steady, occasionally double-checking if they were doing it right - the LAST thing they wanted was to accidentally give their best friend food poisoning. Thankfully, between Michi’s confidence and Junior’s attention to detail, the sides were a breeze - and, when the pizza was done pre-cooking and ready for the toppings, it was truly the young skeleton’s time to shine.

Knowing better than to bug Junior while he was focused on his details, Michi finished up the sides before grabbing their dessert (several of Mikey’s favorite mystic candies mixed together in a bowl) which, admittedly, they were being a bit lazy on but eh, still pretty delicious as far as she was concerned, especially since Mikey’s dad was already making a cake for the occasion.

It took another half-hour for everything to finally get finished, and once it was all cooled down enough to put into containers, the two of them grabbed their meal and headed down into the sewers.

By the time they arrived, the party was just getting started, though it was already looking like a good time. Orange streamers and balloons filled the main atrium, a fun hip-hop playlist was playing over S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.’s speakers, and most of the guests had already arrived.

Mikey spotted them right away, and just about leapt over to them. “Hey guys!” he said as his shiny new gold metal bounced off his chest, “I’m so glad you guys could make it!”

“Well, it’s not every day - or every year - that our friend gets named the Lair Games champ,” Michi said, “Of course we were gonna come!”

“Awww, thanks! Heh, I can’t wait for you guys to see my win, and April said that this year’s video turned out even better than last year’s!” Finally noticing the containers his friends were trying (and failing) to hide behind their backs, Mikey’s smile softened. “You know, I was happy cooking for my own party.”

“Ugh, seriously, Mikaboo? We can handle a little catering,” Michi said, lightly kicking the turtle in the ankle since her hands were still full with side dishes, “and you shouldn’t have to cook for your own party.”

“Besides,” Junior spoke up, bringing his pizza box out, “With how much you like to personalize your food - both for yourself and for us - we wanted to add a little something special, figuring that you deserved an extra surprise,” He opened the box, and Mikey gasped.

The large pizza was practically smothered in different cheeses and toppings, but they weren’t piled on. No, instead they were perfectly and meticulously arranged, so that when all the greens and whites and oranges came together - it was like looking into a pizza-faced mirror.

“Ohmigosh, you guys made a _me pizza?!_ ” Mikey’s eyes were practically sparkling in both amazement and gratitude, “Awwwwwwwww! You guys are the best!” Being mindful of their arms, not wanting to spill their hard work, he carefully hugged them both - a gesture that they happily accepted.

Maybe in terms of expert taste and passion for cooking, Mikey would still have them beat in the end, being a young master chef through and through. But as far as they were considered, that was just fine - just so long as they could still use their own skills to make Mikey just as happy as he made them.

**Author's Note:**

> For those wondering who 'Wil' is, she's my best friend's RotTMNT OC. We do a lot of RPing with our OCs, and I just wanted to give her's a quick shoutout ^v^


End file.
